Fundraiser nets $272,000 for museum

The 100th Anniversary of Credit Unions Fundraising Campaign kicked off in October in conjunction with the Video Premiere Night Credit Unions: 100 years of Building Financial Futures at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. The campaign has raised more than $272,000 to date. Festivities began at the museum with a reception, followed by the video premiere and distinguished speakers at the historic Palace Theatre.

100th Anniversary Celebration
(L to R): Dan Mica, President/CEO, Credit Union National Association; Dan Egan, President, New Hampshire Credit Union League; Susan Newton, Executive Director, American Association of Credit Union Leagues; Pete Crear, President/CEO, World Council of Credit Unions; and Gordon Simmons, President/CEO, Service Credit Union and Chairman, America’s Credit Union Museum.

Dignitaries included Credit Union National Association President Daniel Mica, President/CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council Roland A. "Arty" Arteaga, World Council of Credit Union President/CEO Peter Crear, National Association of Federal Credit Union President Fred Becker Jr., Chairman of the America's Credit Union Museum and Service Credit Union President/CEO Gordon Simmons and MA., N.H. and R.I. Credit Union Leagues President Daniel Egan. The campaign's target goal of $640,000 is to help retire the mortgage of the museum and begin to build an endowment for future programs. This campaign hopes to ensure that the museum can continue to highlight the history of credit union and provide financial education, especially to young people. A series of mailings requesting donations from board members, vendors, roundtable members who have previously contributed to the museum, roundtable members who have never made a donation and all other credit unions in the United States has taken place. Specially-designed stationary and envelopes were created as well as the 100th anniversary logo.

Credit unions that donate the requested amount receive a copy of the Credit Unions: 100 Years Building Financial Futures DVD. America's Credit Union Museum website was expanded to include pages for the fundraiser. The fundraising webpages are linked from the acumuseum.org home page. They contain in-depth information about the museum and the fundraiser. It also has a Pay Pal option for those wishing to make a contribution online by credit card. Donors are also named on the website. The fundraiser will continue through the summer.

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America’s Credit Union Museum (ACUM) promotes the heritage of the credit union movement through the preservation of the industry’s history. ACUM is housed in the building of the first U.S. credit union in Manchester, NH. Additional information about ACUM can be found at www.acumuseum.org.

Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives. They offer a variety of consumer financial services to 370,000 New Hampshire residents and over 85 million Americans. The New Hampshire Credit Union League represents the 28 consumer-owned credit unions in the state. For more information, please visit www.nhcul.org.

For more information, call the museum at 603-629-1553 or visit its web site at www.acumuseum.org.